Bruce Ritchie
As President Barack Obama visited Everglades National Park on Wednesday to mark Earth Day and highlight the threat of climate change, Gov. Rick Scott said he is focused on restoration projects that are “making a difference.”
“We have made significant investments since I got elected,” Scott told reporters on the Capitol grounds.
Obama highlighted the need to address climate change during his visit while environmental groups sought to again call on the state to exercise an option to buy US Sugar Corp. land. Scott was invited by the president but did not attend because of his involvement in the final two weeks of the legislative session, a spokeswoman for the governor said.
The president said the federal government under his administration has invested $2.2 billion and he has proposed another $240 million this year. He made no mention of the proposed US Sugar purchase.
“We want to restore the natural water flow of the Everglades, which we know is one of the best defenses against climate change and rising sea levels,” Obama said. “And I’m calling on Congress to fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which supports this work across the country.”
Obama also said climate change and sea level rise are threats to the Everglades that no longer can be denied. News reports said the Florida Department of Environmental Protection under Scott banned references to climate change, which Scott and DEP Secretary Jon Steverson have denied.
“It can’t be edited out,” Obama said. “It can’t be omitted from the conversation. And action can no longer be delayed. And that’s why I’ve committed the United States to lead the world in combating this threat.”
Florida has an option to buy 46,800 acres of US Sugar land south of Lake Okeechobee. A University of Florida study in March said additional land is needed to store and filter water before it flows into the Everglades.
Eric Eikenberg, CEO of the Everglades Foundation, called on the state to exercise its option before it expires on Oct. 12.
“The ideal option is on the table,” Eikenberg said in a statement issued before the president’s arrival. “Now, we just need Florida lawmakers to act before it is too late.”
Scott recited his efforts on behalf of the Everglades, including a $880 million cleanup plan through 2025 and $150 million requested in 2015-16 for Everglades restoration. He also requested money in the budget last year for bridging the Tamiami Trail highway to restore water flow and to build reservoirs to capture and filter polluted water from Lake Okeechobee that would flow into the Everglades.
Scott said his focus is on continuing to invest in projects “that actually are making a difference.”
“If you go back 2010 when I was running (for governor), what people told me consistently was with that regards to the Everglades we weren’t getting projects done,” Scott said. “And that’s what we’ve been doing. Now I feel good about where we’re going.”
Bruce Ritchie (@bruceritchie) covers environment, energy and growth management in Tallahassee.
